A Time of Rebirth
by Cliscia
Summary: Edward reflects on how his life has changed since he met Ling Yao. LingxEd WARNINGS noncon, kidnapping, use of drugs


A Time of Rebirth

In all the time that had passed since his mother's departure from the world, Edward had never expected his life to end like this. He had been faithful, caring for his brother in the best way that he could, loving the cold lifeless armor like it was still of resemblance to the young child he had once known. And they had searched together, for the stone of magical properties. A fairytale of the purest kind. And they had been so close. _So_ close.

But their paths had crossed, and the minute his younger brother picked up the foreigner,

Edward would regret. He was an annoying person, cheerful and happy, poking at his weak points like a game. The bastard had cheated him, dammit, stole his money and board.

Sometimes he would wake up, too see Ling sleeping next to him, smiling even then, in sleep. Edward's teeth ground together countless times, before whacking the black haired man upside the head. And then Ling would frown like he did, his eyes shut and narrow, saying something like how they were friends.

Friends didn't touch each other the way _he_ did.

_He_ was the one who had started the mess. Started the whole thing. Touching a person like that should be a sin. Feeling his chest, hands drifting slowly lower, all the while whispering promises of love in his ear. Edward had screeched, clawing at something to get a hold, but Ling smiled and held him down. Nobody would be there to answer his pleas.

But he supposed that he had been kind in the end. At least he had made sure that he was ready for their act of damnation. And he had needn't not have said that space was needed. Ling smiled, waving good bye as he slipped away quietly after, Ranfan joining him. He guessed later that she must had been there, ready to catch him if he wasn't so willing.

But Edward knew how things worked, and he would give Ling back all that he got. There were ways to hurt a man.

Alphonse had asked why he was late home. Why his hair was messy and his clothes ruffled. A glare and a sigh before he shrugged him off, saying that with their life style,

Things happened. But Edward had punched the wall of his shower, gritting his teeth thoroughly. He realized then what had happened. He KNEW what they had done. The only question was; which was the worst of his taboos?

A month had passed before he had seen Ling again, and had been quite surprised when the foreigner suddenly appeared next to him in a crowded street, chewing on a chicken bone. Edward had glanced at him, frowning slightly at his closeness; their hands brushed together. Al smiled the way only a helmet attached to armor could do, asking Ling how he had been.

"Quiet well, Mr. Elric. This country still ceases to amaze me. It is quiet beautiful, and I am thinking of staying."

He had froze then, stopping abrubtly and staring at the ground.

"Brother are you-"

"Edward, I was thinking that since I shall be staying, that you-"

And he screamed then, jumping onto Ling and punching anything in reach. At one point he thought that he had hit the man's cheek, making it bruise, but Ling was strong, and held his ground.

"Fuck you, dammit! You stay away! You stay away from me and my brother!"

Was that a rib he felt?

"We've been through so damn much, I DON'T NEED ANY MORE SHIT FROM YOU!"

"Edward, get off of him!"

Alphonse grabbed at his brother's torso, who was pummeling Ling to the ground.

"What's wrong with you!?"

Edward paused growling lowly in the back of his throat.

"You wouldn't understand, Al, just stay out of it."

"Wouldn't understand!? You're beating him to the ground for nothing as all as I know!"

"Yes, Ed, it would be nice if you didn't make such a fuss in public."

Ling smiled and he gulped as the man stared at him, smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry, Ling, I don't know what's gotten over him. I'll pay for a medical bill, if you like."

"It's completely okay, I'm sure I can find some other way for you to make it up.

But it seems now that I am not welcome anymore. Goodbye, Al, Edward."

And he had left again, as sudden as the last. But this time it left a feeling of bile in the back of his throat.

Their quest had continued, and the homunculi were being killed. He had to thank the colonel, this time. And even if that shitface was an impossible jackass, he had to hand it to the man for single handedly killing Lust. Sometimes he could se why he was a hero of the Ishballan war.

And then Ling had come back, but he was not surprised this time. As long as he kept a distance between them and a cold shoulder, everything continued smoothly. But the bastard had won in the end. HE had gotten the stone, and Edward watched under Envy's foot as smooth black eyes turned purple.

The stupid idiot, giving his body up like that. And for what? A taste of immortality?

Edward had laughed.

Ed gave the gun back to Riza, and he supposed that it was slightly symbolic. She frowned, taking it back and moving it in her hands. The ability to kill; so easy. And it had entranced him. Just like those eyes had. The shifted slowly, the purple and the black, he could feel them beckoning him, and he came. Came into the trap Greed had set for him. The one that would kill

(save)

Him.

Edward felt the embrace. Felt it all around him, like touch had been returned after so many years of his absence. And the lips. _Oh _the lips. They kissed him like you would a virgin, slowly and carefully; Greed wanted him to stay.

"Come, come with me, let's leave this country. We can be happy together, we don't need them."

Ed smiled, his eyes half lidded, and he knew vaguely that Greed

(Ling!)

Had drugged him somehow. But it was sweet, and he let his automail be removed and thrown away. He let himself be blindfolded and bound. Edward had known.

"But where are we going?"

He had asked the question not out of concern, but of love of which he had been denied.

"Quiet, we don't want them to hear."

"But Ling, what about Al? Alphonse, I need Alphonse. I can't leave him, I can't leave my brother."

He felt Ling's hands move over his mouth and he squirmed slightly at the feeling.

"I told you to be quiet. Al will be there, Al will be their when we arrive at Xing.

Ah, Ranfan. I was wondering where you went."

Even though he was sight impared, Edward looked up,

And he could imagine her mask covered face, silently handing Ling whatever he had taken from her.

"Now Ed, this will hurt a little, but it will be good, it will be good for you, can you handle that?"

Ling hadn't waited for a reply before uncapping the needle and setting it against the bottom of Edward's outstretched arm. He stiffened immediately, squirming up against him suddenly.

"Just sit still, it's okay. We wouldn't want anything to happen to Al, now would we?"

And he had relaxed then. He would do anything for Alphonse, he could be strong for Ling.

The needle stung at first, and the liquid felt cool as it was ejected into his vein, but like Ling said, it had felt good. It made him tired, so tired, and he simply closed his blindfolded eyes and slept, letting the drugs envelope his senses.

Ling had smiled.

There were periods of 'awakenings', Edward would call it, that the drugs lost their affects. He had been scared the first time. The landscape was strange, and the leather collar felt restricting around his neck. A fit was thrown the first time he had awakened.

He cried then, banging against the elaborate wall and throwing his body against the door, begging for someone to help him, to 'please! Let me out!'.

But Ling had been there,

He had grabbed Edward's wrists, subduing his fear, and reassuring him that he was indeed alright. That Edward belonged to him now, and that Al had been restored. Greed had given him that, and that there was no reason for him to worry. Ling had brought him back to the room, setting him down softly on the ornate cussion that he said Ed had grown fond of.

Edward growled, swinging his arm back to hit him in the face, but Ling caught it,

slowly moving his limb down to the rest of his body.

Ling told him how it would work now. There was no such thing as what he could and couldn't do, only what the emperor allowed. Edward was not to leave, able to go as far as the apple tree orchard, but no farther to the woods beyond. He was not to communicate with foreigners, and if Amestrians visited his palace, Edward was too stay in Ling's chambers. That he and Greed were master, and he was too listen. That he would be punished if he disobeyed.

Their word was law.

His eyes drifted downwards slowly. This wasn't how things were to turn out. This was wrong, so wrong. Edward should be in Resembool with Al and Winry and Auntie Pinako. Colonel Roy should be calling him now, telling him that his report was over due. He should be complaining, complaining to Al about the many kittens he always managed to find. He shouldn't be here. Edward shouldn't be a menial thing like this. He should be killing Ling. And that was what he did.

The sting of guaze on his open cuts made him grit his teeth and arch his back, hands stretched forward and clenched. When the cloth was removed, he sighed, leaning over onto his side where the wounds did not reach. He felt Ling slide over too him before he saw his eyes, smiling and reaching over to tuck a piece of sweaty hair behind his ear.

His mouth was open slightly, and his eyes drooped, but Edward didn't care. He didn't care about anything but the feeling of his pain subsiding.

"It is so nice to have Pharmacy here in Xing, Edward, really. It's amazing what our alchemists can do. Don't you think it's fascinating how a certain mixture of herbs can render the ablitity of a person's alchemy? Really, it's fascinating."

Ling grinned, twisting over and propping himself up onto his hands.

"I think Greed would like to talk to you, yes, I think he would. But please, Edward, don't misbehave again."

He frowned, and Edward looked up in time to see the transition of black to violet, and he flopped back over, moving an arm over his eyes.

Just let it go away…

"Ling says that you are not obedient now, is that true, Tai Yang?"

Tai Yang…sun.

"Yes…master."

The venom that dripped off of his voice matched that only to the look he was given, and he shifted farther into the bed when the Ling impersonator crawled over him. The bed shifted with the weight change and he gulped, eyebrows furrowing.

"If the drugs are gone, then you know what is happening.

That is nice, Ed, we will have fun, you and I."

He knew that it had been a long time since he had lost his purity in this field of actions, but he swore that this time he was a virgin once again, back in Amestris, being held down again, and being whispered proclamations of love and damnation. Edward was such a fool.

Edward sighed, closing the book sharply. Once again he was disappointed. How could a person manage to put up with literature like that?

It was spring now, and he irked to go outside and poke the fish in the pond, feed them or something. Anything was better than sitting inside and wasting the hours by with an ancient tome. He laughed then. What had happened to him?

"Ling, you were gone a long time."

He tilted his head back at the door opening. He knew who it was.

"I have things to do, Ed. My job takes a lot of effort."

Edward snorted, standing up and stretching until he heard a pop. Turning to face the emperor, he slumped down again onto the bed.

"Anything interesting in that book?" Ling asked smiling, crawling over to him to give him a lengthy kiss.

"N-not really. Honestly, I can't believe you would ask me that.

But no, I was thinking about before."

Edward smiled along with him when Ling's face turned surprised.

"Oh really? And should I want to know what you thought of it?"

"I _thought _that life is much better now, with you, Ling. You're all that I could ask for."

Ed laughed when he rolled him over, making a sound similar to a cat before reaching up and kissing him once again.

And Ling once again smiled, slightly running a hand over the needle on the bedside table.

Authors Note-

Slightly confusing, yes I know.

The story was about Edward's reflections on how his life had changed since he met Ling.

And at the end, it was not him who was thinking, but the Edward who's life was controlled by the drugs for him to love Ling.

One of the many fanfictions that I've written for this pairing, but the only one I've typed.

Critism is welcome, if it's constructive. Please give a review! //3


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